Quick Guide on China Train

How to Buy Train Tickets in China?
The selling period of China train tickets are 20 days before the departure day for bookings online and by telephone; and 18 days in advance for train ticket windows at train stations and local train ticket offices.

What You Need to Know Before Booking

China is now known to have the world’s vastest and fastest train network. Being possibly the most economic means of travel, train is flavored domestically and it is still highly likely to encounter ticket shortage during important festivals and national holidays. That being said, the railway system is not necessarily friendly to foreigners. Here are some articles that would help you understand what to expect for booking trains in China:

The Policy

How to Read a Train Ticket

When you read a ticket, please pay attention to the Chinese character andpinyin after a place name. Directions: north, south, east, and west are printed in pinyin on tickets instead of English, respectively Bei, Nan, Dong, and Xi. For example Beijing South Railway Station will be printed as Beijing Nan () on a ticket (see the second ticket below), Beijing East is showed as Beijing Dong (), Beijing West (Beijing Xi, ), and Beijing North (Beijing Bei, ). Please make sure you are going to the correct train station. How to Read a Train Ticket?

Tips for Your China Train Trip

Taking a train in China is very different from in western countries. The article below may help make your journey smoother and more convenient.

International Train Routes

China Train Schedule

What's New?

News about “Fuxinghao" High-Speed TrainPublished on Sep. 22th, 2017
Since September 21st, the maximum running speeds of the "fuxinghao" high-speed trains have been increased to 350 km/h. The "fuxinghao" trains running between Beijing and Shanghai are G1/G2, G3/G4, G5/G6, G7/G8, G9/G10, G13/G14, and G17/G18. The journey takes only four-and-a-half hours.
More varieties of food are provided on these fast trains, including set meals, chicken rolls, dumplings, noodles and sandwiches.

Train tickets booking during the National Day HolidayPublished on Sep. 11th, 2017
The Mid-Autumn Festival in 2017 falls on October 4th, during the National Day holiday week. The official holiday has been extended from October 1st to 8th, and this will be a very busy travel period. Train tickets from around September 25th to October 13th may sell out quickly.

New Timetable for China RailPublished on Aug. 29th, 2017
A new timetable for China Rail trains will be introduced on September 21st, 2017.
New high-speed services between Wuhan and Jiujiang, Xi'an and Fuzhou, Wuhan and Wenzhou, Beijing and Qingdao, Lanzhou and Nanchang will be launched at that time.

Speeds of "Fuxinghao" High-Speed Trains Set to IncreasePublished on Aug. 29th, 2017
Top speeds of "fuxinghao" high-speed trains are set to increase to 350 km/h near the end of September, 2017. Beginning on September 21st, 2017, 7 pairs of "fuxinghao" high-speed trains will run between Beijing and Shanghai each day, taking only around four-and-a-half hours between the two cities. These are G1/G2, G3/G4, G5/G6, G7/G8, G9/G10, G13/G14, and G17/G18.

Guilin to Kunming High-Speed Trains Started RunningPublished on July 31th, 2017
High-speed trains between Guilin and Kunming have been introduced to China rail network in July. The train journey is shortened from 20 hours to 5 hours!

China Railway Corporation announced a new change on its booking policy on November 15. Starting in December passengers can book train tickets online 60 days ahead of their travel date (more information here). This new change enables passengers to book tickets early for the Spring Festival travel rush season (from Feb 4 to Mar 15, 2015), during which there will be a great demand for train tickets with over 300 million passengers travelling by train.

China Highlights would recommend passengers to make travel plan early for the rush season now that the the booking horizon is extended and tickets often sell out quickly. If you book tickets for the rush season, we will do our best to get your ticket. We also ensure 100% payment refund if we are not able to offer the ticket.